


Produce 48 (Work in Progress)

by loosenoodlepoodledoodle



Category: April (Band), ITZY (Band), LOONA (Korea Band), TWICE (Band)
Genre: F/F, Horror, Inspired by The Hunger Games, K-pop References, Mentioned Other K-pop Artist(s)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-08
Updated: 2019-08-24
Packaged: 2020-01-06 20:10:49
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,794
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18395507
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/loosenoodlepoodledoodle/pseuds/loosenoodlepoodledoodle
Summary: War returns to Korea at last, and our fateful heroes must survive Kim Jong Eun's revenge for everyone mocking him over the years.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So the other day I was looking through Hunger Games fanfics, when I saw one (I forgot which) that was based on the BrantSteele Hunger Games Simulator. So I checked that out, and got addicted real quick. This story is based on me throwing a bunch of K-pop idols (only girls, I am not a huge fan of boy groups) into the blender and seeing what came out.
> 
> (I think I will only write up to Chapter Five. I've hit most of the notes I've wanted to hit, so there's really just resolution left to go.)

               They came in the middle of night. I was asleep in the dorm, with the rest of Loona, when the alarm went off. We didn’t understand what was going on, we weren’t awake. But the staff made it pretty clear almost immediately.

               They led us down into the basement, to a fallout shelter. We were trapped down there for two weeks, and it was the enemy that dug us out. We were so shocked to see it was them.

               They rounded us up with other surviving idols, all female. They told us they’d heard about the memes mocking them, and that they were going to make an example of us. Forty-eight of us were blindfolded and driven away in rickety trucks. We could hear the gunshots, the screams. The enemy’s purge was in full swing all around us, and all we could do was listen. Finally, after a few hours, they stopped us.

               They had cordoned off a section of the demilitarized zone, one that had avoided heavy fighting. We knew right away what they had in store for us, but their commander lorded it over us all the same.

               “You damned southerners kept saying, ‘ _The Hunger Games_ must take place in North Korea.’ Ha! Now you get to live through it. Or should I say, die through it! _Mwa-ha-ha-haaa!_ ”

               The makeshift arena was maybe a few kilometers across. They had built the cornucopia near the edge, and had surrounded the entire battleground with electrified barbed wire. Drones buzzed around visibly, and it was also fairly obvious where the television cameras were lurking. We were given just enough time to clean ourselves up a little, and a handful of captive makeup artists in chains touched up our faces, so that the audience of South Koreans watching would know who was killing whom. Honestly, you would think we’d all be a lot more terrified, but two weeks in the filth of the fallout shelters without much to eat seems to have numbed the lot of us.

               Now we’re being led to our starting places around the front of the cornucopia. There are plenty of appropriate-looking weapons there for the occasion, though not much variety in them. The food and other supplies appear to be just whatever the fuck the enemy could swiftly loot from the nearest convenience stores along the DMZ. But again, most of us are close to starving (and weren’t we already, with our choice of career?), so we’re not exactly feeling picky. The cornucopia itself, for what it’s worth, is decorated with posters of Trump and Kim Jong Eun, holding hands amidst propaganda posters explaining who America’s real friends are.

               Thanks, Trump.

               A countdown begins dramatically over some shitty loudspeakers. I look around at the other tributes. The rest of Loona is here, unfortunately. That will make things awkward over the coming days. I recognize Twice as well. The rest seem to be an eclectic collection of other random group members. There are no boys present, and I take a quick tally, estimating there to be forty-eight people here.

               Forty-eight. Gee, I wonder what the enemy will call this, then.

               A gong sounds, and the feedback creates a shriek that sends us all reeling. When I recover, I high-tail it towards the bounty before us. I manage to grab a few Chocopies and a spear. I don’t have any trouble escaping. Most people are not in any hurry, but I hear enough screams to give me pause. Are the enemy attacking, or are some of us actually butchering each other? As I reach the nearest tree line, I steal a look back. I see a lot of people running away, like me. Others are still scrounging, but indeed I see a few taking swings at each other. What the fuck is wrong with those people? Seriously, fuck those bitches.

               I run for a while, keeping an eye out for my friends, but I don’t see anyone. I stop and change direction when I come across a ton of signs marking a minefield. I slow down, hiking parallel to it and a good hundred meters out. Eventually, I find a nice good patch of trees to sit and hide between to eat my Chocopies.

               The pies are Lotte brand, not the best (that would be Orion) but still pretty yummy. My stomach can’t handle it, however, and in a few minutes I puke everything up, ruining my perfect little hiding spot. I walk some more, until I decide that it just doesn’t fucking matter, we’re all gonna die anyway, so I might as well pick a spot that feels comfortable, damn it.

               I sit, and then lie down, on a mossy patch of ground near the edge of a clearing, sort of looking back the way I came. I can just make out the cornucopia, and it looks abandoned. I haven’t heard any cannon shots, though, so maybe the enemy forgot that little detail. Oh well.

               The wind rustles gently through the trees, and the day feels quite pleasant. There are just enough clouds in the sky to present some interesting shapes, and I spend most of the rest of the day just watching them, half-nodding off, trying to ignore my stomachache and pangs of hunger. I can’t believe everything that’s happened in the last two weeks. The sudden shock of the war, the worries about food and sewage down there, the dread whenever a bomb went off in the beginning. They tapered off after the first couple of days, although there was still the occasion light explosion. But the nukes in the beginning, it was so obvious when those went off. I was afraid we’d be buried alive, trapped down in our own little hell. Heck, when the enemy pulled us out, we were all starting to get cabin fever, all alone together in the dark. Any longer and we might’ve made it our own private little arena.

               I fall asleep and am awakened by the evening chill. It’s still light out, but now I’m shivering, and the hunger is worse than ever. I decide to get up and look for other people to spend the night with. I mean, I know some of us are dangerous, but most of us aren’t interested in killing. And most of us know each other, too. I can’t believe that it’d be safer on my own. Besides, the enemy never said what would happen to the winner. Maybe we’re all doomed anyway, so there’s no point in playing by their rules.

               I get up and walk in the same direction I had been going. I’ve not gotten much farther when I hear voices ahead. It’s two girls, nervously laughing. I’m not sure who one of them is, but the other is definitely JinSoul. Great, we can spend the night together. Or die together.

               I just catch a glimpse of JinSoul’s hair when the music begins to play. It’s the North Korean national anthem, and while it doesn’t hurt my ears the way the gong did this morning, the fact that it just keeps going on and on seems to make it worse. It’s almost as if the scratchy screeching speakers are meant to drive us into a murderous frenzy over time. Then, suddenly, it dawns on me that the enemy are going all in on this experience.

               Three large jumbotrons, each hanging beneath a different blimp, light up and display the faces of the dead. The pictures seem to be just whatever the enemy could find on short notice. They certainly aren’t from when they captured us; we’re all still in the pajamas we’ve been wearing for two weeks. As I watch in stunned silence, I hear the missing cannon shots sound off. Apparently the enemy were just waiting until nightfall, when it was more practical for them.

               I can’t discern an obvious pattern to the victims, so I guess it must be in order of death. The first is Jihyo, from Twice. The next three are GoWon, Yeojin, and Hyunjin.

               My heart skips a beat. How? How could this be happening? They were with me this morning!

               Next is Kim Sohye, which I find strange. She had returned to acting, hadn’t she? Really bad luck to be reunited with her friends today.

               After her comes Nayeon, from Twice, Kim Doyeon, from Weki Meki, and Bona, from Cosmic Girls. But then one last face appears, and it's HaSeul.

               HaSeul. God. Four of us. Four of Loona, dead and gone. Will I be next? Suddenly I am quite grateful that I took that spear.

               The jumbotrons fade to black, and the announcement mercifully ends. There is just barely enough light left out here for me to see JinSoul. She beckons me over to snuggle between her and her companion. It turns out to be Jinsol, from April.

               “Two of a kind, huh?” I lamely joke.

               “It’s as good a reason as any to team up,” says JinSoul.

               I sit down between her and Jinsol, who is fighting off a panic attack. I get the feeling it’s about to spread, too.

               “Hey, shh, it’ll be alright,” whispers JinSoul. Then she starts quietly singing some children’s song that I barely remember. It’s an English song from school. It starts out, “I love the mountains, I love the sea,” and while I can’t remember any more of it I can at least hum the tune. This calms us down a little, so we lie back and look at the stars.

               The night cools down rapidly. I definitely have the best position between the three of us. None of us has any blanket, although somehow JinSoul ended up with an empty backpack that we’re lamely using as a pillow.

               Jinsol manages somehow to sob herself to sleep, but I have questions for JinSoul. I tug on her arm, to get her to lean in extra close.

               “Yeah? What’s up?”

               “I can’t…I can’t…”

               “You can’t believe this is happening?”

               I shake my head. Then I realize she probably can’t see that.

               “I can’t believe they’re gone.”

               JinSoul sighs. “Olivia…”

               I frown at her use of my stage name, but of course she doesn’t notice.

               “I thought I heard you two laughing earlier.”

               “Oh, yeah,” says JinSoul. “We were talking, teasing each other. I think I said something funny, but I can’t remember now. Everything’s been blotted out by reality.”

               I pull her arm around me, and she kisses me on the cheek.

               “What are we going to do, JinSoul? How are we going to make it through this?”

               “I don’t know. But Jinsol was telling me this morning, she overheard some of the soldiers when we were still in the trucks. They were complaining about the whole thing, calling it barbaric. She got the impression the war’s going badly for them, and this is some kind of last-ditch propaganda effort to crush resistance.”

               I consider this. “Um, so how exactly does this help us?”

               “Maybe if we last long enough, the army will come and rescue us.”

               Huh. It would not have occurred to me the war was still going on. I would have thought nukes would settle things rather quickly. Then I realize something else.

               “I don’t think it’ll matter if the army is coming,” I say with alarm. “If there are soldiers still around, I think they’ll shoot us before they retreat.”

               “Then either we need a really good hiding place, or we’ve got to find a way to escape.”

               “Well, there’s no hiding from them here,” I say. Indeed, I can hear a drone buzzing off in the distance.

               “Then escape’s the only option.”

               I think about this. “Did you see that old minefield nearby?”

               “Yeah. Why, do you think it’s worth a shot?”

               “Maybe. Hopefully, if it’s as old as it looks, the mines will all be broken or something.”

               “Sounds like a good idea. Now let’s go to sleep.”

               She gives me another kiss and turns over, this time draping my arm around her. I can tell from the change in her breathing when she falls asleep, but I have the greatest difficulty in following her. It’s not that I’m not tired, far from it. It’s that I’ve gotten really tense since seeing those nine faces in the sky.

               Only the parts of me touching my companions feel any kind of warmth. I shiver, and the relative silence of the wilderness is maddening. The occasional chirp of a cricket or hoot of an owl continue to startle me. Eventually I drift off to sleep, but not for long. I wake up at first light, before the other two.

               I sit up, sliding out of JinSoul’s embrace. I make a decision.

               I get to my feet quietly, not wanting to disturb their slumber. I leave my spear behind. It won’t be of any use where I’m going, and if I stay here I’m sure I won’t last long. I reach the old minefield and take a deep breath. Hopefully there won’t be an electric fence on the other side. In fact I wonder if much of the fence is live at all. The enemy certainly couldn’t keep the lights on all the time, even in Pyongyang.

               The sun peeks out over the distant hills. Everything seems so still and quiet. I’m sure most of the enemy must be asleep. Surely they won’t spot me?

               Wish me luck.


	2. Chapter 2

               “Wake up, Mina.”

               I open my eyes, and I see Jeongyeon’s face in the darkness, illuminated by the glow of my campfire. I sit up and gesture to her to sit down, but I can’t hide my dread at her being here. It was a risk I took, and I never would have lit a fire if it wasn’t so cold tonight.

               Jeongyeon’s face has gotten somehow even worse over these last few days, and she resembles a bloody ghost. I notice she hasn’t moved from her spot.

               “What’re you doing out here, on your own? _I thought we were a team_.”

               I shift uncomfortably at this, but not because of what she’s saying. I hurt my leg this morning, so I don’t know how the hell I’m going to get away from her. Running is not an option.

               “You know there’s only four of us left now, right? The others have been killing us off, all because we didn’t stick together.”

               I’m terrified, but honestly I hate her so much, because of what she’s become. It’s only the fourth night, but she started killing right in the beginning.

               Jeongyeon sighs. “Sana was like you. Worthless. But I made something out of her, and I’ll do the same for you. At least you won’t have to choose.”

               I’m confused at her last remark, and I jump when Tzuyu steps out of the shadows. She’s dragging someone with her, with a bag over their head. Tzuyu forces them to their knees and pulls off the bag. Of course it’s a girl, but I don’t know this one. She must be from a lower tier group.

               I look at Tzuyu’s face. She’s got that hundred-meter stare you hear about in war documentaries sometimes. She won’t look me in the eye, or even acknowledge my existence. I look over at Jeongyeon. She’s tilted her head expectantly.

               “You’ve got a knife, haven’t you, Mina?”

 

***

 

               Our time in the fallout shelter was very rough. It wasn’t very big, nor very well stocked, and we also had to share it with our new sister group, Itzy. It wasn’t a moment too soon when we were dug out of there, so I suppose I should have known some of us would come out thirsting for blood. Still, it wasn’t even a minute before the killing began.

               After the gong sounded, most of us (meaning not just Twice or the JYP idols, but all of us) looked around the cornucopia, although a fair number could already see where things were headed and were smart enough to run at once. The rest of us soon understood how little food was there. Forty-eight people could survive for maybe a few days, tops, with careful rationing. But I don’t think any of us was ready for more starvation so soon, and we might be stuck here for weeks.

               I had grabbed a backpack and begun loading it when I heard a scream. We looked over to see someone from a different company running off, I didn’t see who. Nearby was Jihyo, our group leader. She’d been stabbed in the back, and was dying fast. Not a moment later we realized Nayeon was missing. We found her with a rope tight around her neck. This freaked us out, and when someone, practically a wisp of a girl, I think from Loona, strayed too close, Jeongyeon lost it and swung a hatchet at her. I can remember the sound it made, hitting her head, and that poor girl’s body crumpling to the ground. She hadn’t even done anything to us.

               This set off something of a general panic, and I wasn’t the only one who took off running. I abandoned everyone, my friends, strangers. I found a place to hide in the woods and stayed there for hours. I heard a handful of people pass by, but they didn’t stop and I didn’t say hi. It wasn’t until late afternoon that I was brave enough to go looking for anyone else, and that was because despite all the food I’d taken, I hadn’t grabbed a blanket.

               I ended up with a mix of idols. I don’t remember all their names, but I did recognize Yeji and Yuna from Itzy. We didn’t say much, but the three of us snuggled together that first night. I could feel the terror pass through us all when we saw our friends’ faces in the night sky.

               The next day our larger group split up, but I stayed with those two. We wandered around a bit, to put some distance between us and the others. With just the three of us, we had food for a couple of days at least, so we thought we could take our time. Nothing much happened until around noon, when we ran into Lia.

               Lia was another member of Itzy. Her groupmates welcomed her, but she got cagey with me. When I offered to share some of my food with her, she got greedy and snatched too much. It was really weird, and her friends were just as confused as I was. So I punched her in the face, and she punched me right back.

               Yeji and Yuna had to pull us off of each other. They apologized for their friend, gave me back some of the snacks I’d shared, and suggested we split up. So off we went, on our separate ways. I looked back, in hurt and confusion, only to see Lia look back in silent fury. I’m certain that if she had left the cornucopia with a weapon, I’d be dead back in that glade.

 

***

 

               Little of note happened after that. It must be said, that for the tributes themselves, the Hunger Games are extremely boring most of the time. But when it gets exciting? Man, oh man.

               I spent a lot of time alone, and there was nothing to do but obsess and brood. Not merely over our unfair fate, oh no, but at how so many of us had become dogs so fast.

               The brief periods I took mingling with others did not help my sour mood. Some people shared rumors from across the arena, including at how my groupmates were developing a lust for killing. I didn’t want to believe it was true, but then I still remembered Jeongyeon committing her first murder so vividly. And then my occasional erstwhile companions kept teaching me about human nature directly.

               I joined up with another group the next morning, though no one was from my company. By that time, another five idols were dead, including Dahyeon. The next day, one of my new companions, Naeun, from April, tried to kill me. She bloodied my lip, and slightly cut my arm, but I bloodied her nose and blackened her eye. She had managed to get me alone, too, so the others couldn’t interfere. Her mistake.

               We both left that fight in tears. I probably could have finished her off, too. Maybe I should have. But I don’t think I have it in me to kill. I just kept her knife and told her to stay the hell away. She got the message loud and clear.

               Which brings me to tonight.

 

***

 

               “What the fuck is wrong with you, Jeongyeon?”

               She just laughs at me.

               “I’m trying to toughen you up. Poor Mina, always so sad. So popular, and never the happier for it. Now here you are, all alone. I’m genuinely surprised you haven’t killed yourself yet.”

               Anger rises up for a brief moment to blot out my fear. I would never kill myself. Has she thought so little of me the entire time we’ve known each other?

               “So, what, Jeongyeon?” I ask tensely. “ You think me murdering this poor girl is gonna make me some kind of warrior or something? How does that make any sense?”

               She laughs again, like I said the funniest, stupidest thing.

               “ _You dumb bitch_ , you don’t know what trouble you’re in. This isn’t about you getting your hands dirty, this is about _trust_.”

               She rolls her eyes at my perplexed expression.

               “No, no, no, no! You see, I didn’t make Tzuyu, or Momo, or any of the others kill anyone! I didn’t need to. They stayed loyal, they stayed _with the group_. But you and Sana, you two just ran off. With _our_ supplies. We’ve been hurting ever since, because of your selfishness. We had to raid the others’ camps to survive, and we’ve lost more people because of it. So in a sense, you haven’t stayed innocent at all, you’ve been killing us!”

               No way, I can’t believe it. Her logic is so twisted, it doesn’t make sense to me. I shake my head.

               “Ask Tzuyu. She hasn’t killed anyone yet. Have you, Tzuyu?”

               Tzuyu faintly shakes her head and mouths the word “no.” But she’s in such a right state, I don’t know whether or not to believe her. I turn back to Jeongyeon.

               “So, if I refuse, you’re going to kill me? Is that what the choice is?”

               “Yes,” says Jeongyeon, and she grins at me. With all the grime on her face, she looks like a ghoul.

               I lean down towards my backpack and pull out the knife I took. I also grab a branch that I had left in my fire, to use as a torch and weapon in case of an emergency. I stand up straight, and look Jeongyeon in the eyes, as cool and composed as I can.

               “You know, we’re all probably going to die here, but I have to hope we’ll be rescued. And I can’t believe in that hope if I act like it’ll never happen. So I refuse.”

               Jeongyeon scoffs. “Captain America wannabe.”

               She moves much faster than I expect her to, and I barely dodge the hatchet she throws at my head. Suddenly she is upon me, but she didn’t expect I’d be armed with a large torch. I swing it in front of me, and she draws back. She pulls a sword out from seemingly nowhere, but I avoid letting her knock the torch out of my hand.

               “Tzuyu!” she shouts.

               I look to my flank in horror, thinking I’m about to get hit from both sides, but Tzuyu doesn’t move. She’s instead staring at Jeongyeon, with a look of revulsion on her face.

               I turn back to Jeongyeon just in time for her to attack again. She swings her sword from the side, and she’s too close for me to step back out of the way. There’s nothing for it, I can only dodge in one direction, towards Jeongyeon. The foot of my injured leg steps partially into my meager campfire, and the side of my torso intercepts the hilt of my enemy’s sword. It hurts real bad, and I have to drop my knife and grab hold of her shoulder to keep from collapsing into my fire. But in all that motion, I’ve swung my torch wildly, at Jeongyeon’s head. I feel like I hardly tap her with it, but that is all that’s needed for her to reel back in pain. She drops her sword, clutching the side of her head. She’s not on fire, but she’s not going to be back in the fight any time soon. Just as she runs off into the night, my foot finally touches something hot and I step back, tumbling in pain.

               Tzuyu watches me with an odd look on her face, and then leaves quietly. The girl she was holding captive gives me a head bow of appreciation. She brings her bound hands to me and I cut her free. She runs off into the darkness, too, leaving me all alone again.

               I decide to abandon the camp. There’s no telling what Jeongyeon will do in revenge, she’s lost it completely. I take her sword and my belongings and set off once more. It’s only night four. Twenty-eight people are still alive.


	3. Chapter 3

               I look at her, and she looks at me. I size her up, and she does the same. She’s horrible, no doubt about it, but without a mirror I can’t tell if I look any better. Her hair is matted and thick, drawn back in a makeshift bun. My own hair, much longer than hers, is in a similar ratty ponytail. The same skein of filth covers both of our faces, although unless it’s a trick of the light hers has a tinge of rust-color to it.

               I clear my throat. “So how have you been, Jeongyeon?”

               She smiles and laughs. “It’s so nice to see a friendly face for once. Come, let’s have lunch together.”

               We sit down at the foot of a tree and have ourselves a picnic, of all things. We share the food that we have, and chat like it’s an ordinary spring day.

               “I think I heard a plane this morning,” I mention.

               “Oh? That’s nice.”

               The implications are lost on her.

               “I ran into Yeji the other day,” I say. “I wonder how’s she’s doing. I haven’t seen anyone else from my group since…”

               My voice trails off. Jeongyeon looks at me perplexed.

               “Who’s Yeji?” she asks.

               “Never mind,” I say.

               Jeongyeon shrugs and sighs deeply. “I just lost Tzuyu. She ran off one night, then yesterday I found her by the river, dead. Someone had stabbed her in the chest. Ran off and left her with a knife still in her.”

               “Gosh,” I whisper.

               “The weird thing is, she was all cleaned up. I can’t decide if she’d been ambushed while washing her face, or if the murderer felt so guilty she had to make up for it somehow. Oh well.”

               “Oh, well,” I repeat.

               “Hey, that reminds me.” Jeongyeon digs into her bag. “Want some bacon?”

               My tongue grows wet with hunger. “Really? Where’d you find some of that?”

               “It was just lying around. I’ve already cooked it up and everything. Here you go.”

               She holds out a piece to me, and suddenly it’s bile I’m holding back, not drool. Something is wrong with this meat. Something is horribly wrong.

               “Uh, no thanks. I don’t think I can hold down anything that rich.”

               “Your loss.” She scarfs it down disgustingly. When she’s done, she looks right into my eyes.

               “It’s too bad about Tzuyu. She had such good taste.”

               I can’t take that glint in her eye, that sly smile. That tone-deaf remark. I’ve reached my breaking point.

               “It was good seeing you, Jeongyeon.” I jump to my feet.

               “Don’t be rude, Ryujin.” She stands up at a more leisurely pace.

               “This area is mine. You should stay out unless you need to talk. Otherwise, don’t steal my food.”

               Anger, but mostly disbelief, spreads across my face. “Where the hell am I supposed to go?”

               She gives me directions. There’s a marshy area that most everyone avoided. “Maybe you can find some frogs or bird eggs there.”

               “But not ‘bacon,’” I mutter. To my surprise, she bursts out laughing.

               “Thanks, I really needed that,” she says when she recovers.

               We say our goodbyes, and walk away. I keep checking over my shoulder, listening for her following me. Maybe she’s changing her mind about letting all this fresh meat get away.

               It takes me a while to cross the arena. The trip’s made longer still on account of avoiding all the bodies. I don’t know what day it is, or how many of us are left. I think a couple of nights have passed without the anthem and jumbotrons. The fence is still humming, though, and I still hear a drone from time to time.

               I arrive at the marshy area, and I’m confused. There’s a strange dichotomy to the land here. Much of it is dry, with such dense growth so as to be virtually impassable. But then there are these random pits and lanes. Many of them have standing water, but they’re distributed so haphazardly. It’s the oddest landscape I’ve ever walked through. It kind of reminds me of those ditches at the ends of farmers’ fields, where they drain the excess water to keep the rice from rotting. The other thing it reminds me of somehow is the Moon. Craters everywhere, magnificent desolation—

               “Oh.” That’s right; I’m still somewhere in the almost seventy-year-old DMZ.

               I keep walking, but now a new worry is gnawing away at me. The path I’m forced to walk is confusing. The woods are getting denser, the old trenches and bomb craters closer and closer. A pervasive gloom permeates the place, and I feel an irrational fear of the dead. Not the others from the last few days. No, it’s the fallen of this old battlefield. I can imagine them coming up out of the ground at night, blind, hungry, desperate. Brother against brother, father against son, fighting in an endless war that hasn’t even ended today. Clawing at me, hiding up in a tree, their withered rotted hands tearing the flesh of my legs into bloody strips of meat…

               I admonish myself. Zombies aren’t real. The dead can’t come back to hunt me down. Besides, they would’ve removed all the soldiers’ bodies during the war, or when the armistice began. Surely there’s not a bone left out here, besides the one’s we’ve so recently added?

               That’s when I see the tank. It’s rusted down to a shapeless hulk. I can’t tell whose side it belonged to. I wouldn’t be able to even if I was a tank expert. I think it’s facing roughly south, but that doesn’t say much. Seoul changed hands four times during the old war. So this could be anybody’s.

               Vines enshroud the tank’s broken treads. Flower buds peek out from under its bulk, and some kind of thorny plant pokes out of the holes in its hull. There’s a gap in the canopy above me, allowing just enough sunlight in to illuminate the scene perfectly.

               “Wow.”

               I sigh in wonder at the beauty I’ve stumbled upon. I wish I had a camera to capture the moment, but then the feeling passes. All beauty fades in time. Especially human beauty.

               I wait here for a moment, taking in the scene, the air, everything I can around me. It is strangely pleasant. Maybe after all I’ve been through, I feel like clinging to anything for solace.

               It doesn’t last much longer.

               There’s a drone above me, somewhere. That’s not too unusual, except there can’t be that many of us left. That means it probably isn’t randomly passing by. In fact, if I think about it, haven’t I been hearing it since I got here?

               So either it followed me, or it was watching someone else.

               I tense up, but I don’t look around wildly or anything like that. I don’t want the drone or anyone else who could be nearby watching see me panic. Instead, I play it cool. I’m known for a certain look, and even though my face is filthy, I’m sure my tough girl expression shines through.

               I casually glance around, acting bored. But inside I’m roiling. This place is a maze. I’ve wandered into a maze I can’t easily escape, and someone is close enough that _they’ve_ chosen to watch.

               I yawn as a cloud passes over the tank clearing. Shadow consumes me, and I take a step forward back in the direction I came.

               I hear the drone buzzing around. If it was following me, then it’s lost me. Chills run through me, and I can’t decide if it’s more my fear or the loss of sunlight that’s doing it to me.

               I’ve only just begun to think I’m in the clear when I hear a twig snap. It’s from behind me, and the drone straightens its course.

               It’s following someone else, then. And that someone is following me.

               Everything is getting darker. It smells like rain is coming. I was already not paying enough attention on the way in here, mesmerized as I was by my discovery. Now the sun’s gone and I can’t even get a proper bearing. Not that it matters, the rain’ll obscure everything in minutes.

_What the hell am I gonna do?_

               Maybe I can lose her in the rain, too.

               If she’s already sighted me, then there’s no point in creeping around. Speed is my only weapon. I lost my knife yesterday, and I’m sure anyone that I could’ve beaten in a fistfight is already dead.

               I take off running, wanting to put as much distance between myself and my stalker before the rain hits. I hear her break cover. She’s fast, already passing the tank.

               I run harder than I ever have in my short life. All my exercise, all my dance practice, all the development singing has done for my ability to breathe. All of it is put to the test, but it’s not enough. Whoever it is, she’s faster than me, and she’s made this ground her domain.

               I tear through the underbrush, leaping over smaller pits and across the trenches. I dare not look back, but I can actually hear her laughing behind me. She’s having fun, like this is some kind of game, a nature hike’s version of parkour and not me fleeing for my life. One misstep and she’ll be at my back, cutting into my flesh or bashing the back of my skull in.

               The rain comes and slows us down. I can’t hear her laughing anymore, only the soggy slopping sound of her footsteps. The rain even drowns out the buzzing of the drone, a mad Lakitu haunting us from above.

               She’s stumbling in the slickness of the rain, but I am, too. I decide to take a chance. Instead of avoiding the larger craters, I jump right into the next one I see. This must take my pursuer by surprise, as I make it up the other side unmolested. I finally turn around to see who it is.

               The rain thwarts me. I can see a silhouette of a girl with a spear and carrying a backpack. The only part of her face I can see clearly are her eyes. They are so intense, staring at me with hatred. I’m taken aback, and my façade crumbles. I feel my fears etching themselves into my face. The other girl seems to smirk, and walks away. I scramble to my feet and continue running.

               Night falls by the time the rain stops. I cower under a tree, thoroughly soaked through. It’s cold tonight, and I may die of it before the morning comes. I know that would be better than being stabbed, though.

               Somehow despite the shivering I manage to fall asleep. I wake up the next day to a beautiful morning, tinted gray. It’s one of those days where it’s overcast and windy, but the clouds are thin enough that it doesn’t feel oppressive.

               I get up and wring out some of my clothes. I have no idea how I lived through the night. I’d like to think it was some special blessing, but I know that’s not true. I’m not worthy—

_(She’s beautiful, even without makeup. She’d washed the grime from her face in the river.)_

               —of such a thing, even if it existed. I’m a—

_(I say hi to her like a friend. She turns to me and actually smiles.)_

               —terrible person, deserving of this hell we’re in. That other girl yesterday—

_(Her weapon, an axe, sits uselessly on the ground to her side. Behind her, I see her bag. It’s full of food.)_

               —she was right to hate me. She doesn’t know me, and—

_(I plunge the knife into her chest. I don’t even understand why I’m doing it. Bloodlust overwhelms me. I am mad with rage, with jealousy, with too many other emotions for me to ever unravel. I want that food and I want her gone. Her eyes don’t widen in surprise or in anger. There’s just this cold sadness in them. She lies back on the ground, and I leave the knife in her. I can’t even watch her go. I snatch her food bag and run. Later I’ll wish that I had at least taken the axe, too, but now all such thoughts are beyond me.)_

               —she’s right. I killed Tzuyu.

 

***

 

               Most of the food was wasted, anyway. I gorged myself that night, only to puke everything else back up. I tried to tell myself I was sick, it was too rich, I got food poisoning. But I know it was only guilt.

               I spend the morning wandering around aimlessly. I avoid the marshy battlefield and Jeongyeon’s turf, but that leaves enough space for me to look for someone, anyone, to talk to. Hell, I’d even welcome that damn drone as company.

               I find a spot in a clearing to sit down in for lunch. The clouds have parted and the sun is starting to warm me up. Maybe I’ll live through this after all. I choose a bag of pizza-flavored corn chips, probably the best thing I have left in my _(Tzuyu’s)_ bag. As I crunch and munch, I get a preternatural feeling.

               “Hello?” I call out. “Is anyone there?”

               Nothing.

               I stand up and start to look around. I’m about to offer whoever it is some of my chips when I feel a pain in my back that passes through into my chest. I’m knocked down to my knees and can’t catch my breath. I’m pushed forward flat on the ground, and I feel someone step hard onto my back, bracing as they pull out the spear.

               I cough horribly, tasting blood and unable to breathe. They take their foot off of me, and I grunt through the pain. I roll over to face them, to stare them down so they remember me. It’s the only thing I have left. My body spasms with pain and I can feel my blood draining out of me, gushing out of my back, my chest, my mouth.

               I steady myself, but it’s no use. The sun’s in the wrong place. I can only see her silhouette. It’s not Jeongyeon (thank God), but it’s not that marsh girl either. It’s so hard to concentrate through this agony, but at last I recognize who it is.

               “Sana…”

               She flinches and steps back, dropping her spear. I never get to see her pick it back up.


	4. Chapter 4

               She whispers my name, and it scares the hell out of me. She’s taking so long to die. Seola didn’t end like that. But then, I did slit her throat.

               By the time I’ve picked my spear back up, Ryujin is gone. Only her silence and stillness give it away. Her eyes are still open, staring at me. If the blood had been gone, she could be posing for a photoshoot.

               I grab her bag, but leave the pizza corn chips on the ground. She crushed them in her fall, and now they’re soaking wet. I’m desperate for food, I have too many mouths to feed, but I’m not _that_ desperate.

               I’ve only just slung the bag over my shoulder when I nearly panic. Jeongyeon is walking right towards me, out in the open. Not a care in the world.

               “Why’d you kill Ryujin?” she asks. I hesitate to answer, and she brushes it off.

               “Ah, it doesn’t matter.” She sees the chips on the ground and scoops them up.

               “Want one?”

               I shake my head no.

               “Suit yourself.” She regards a chip, stained scarlet, and puts it in her mouth.

               “Mmm.”

               I want to leave, but storming off in front of Jeongyeon would be dangerous. She’s become so unpredictable.

               “Seen any other of the others?” I ask nonchalantly.

               “Nope. Not for a while. Although,” and she says this next part a bit too coyly, “I saw Tzuyu here and there the other day.”

               I don’t get the joke she’s making. I know what _Ryujin_ did, it's what brought me here today. My business is finished so I move to leave. Jeongyeon stops me.

               “What else did she have?”

               I can’t afford to spare any supplies for this psycho, but I can’t run away. I’d probably trip, and in any case her arms have gotten stronger over the last week and a half. That nasty-looking axe on her belt would catch up with me real quick.

               I open Ryujin’s bag to her. She pokes through its contents, and thankfully says, “No thanks, I’m good.”

               “Then, I guess it’s goodbye, again.”

               “Wait,” she tells me. “It’s your kill. You can have the choicest cuts.”

               I fly into a rage at her ill humor. She jumps back, laughing as I miss her face with my still sanguine spear. She draws her axe. It has much shorter reach than my weapon, but it is far stronger. I don’t know if I can survive even one hit with that thing, and she can throw it, too. I think I’ll have trouble dodging it if she does so, and anyways where the hell could I run to? There’s just about no one else left for her to worry about, and just the one hiding spot my people know about. Either I’d die, or I’d lead that devil girl back to Jiu and Rachel and the others. But they’re depending on me for the food I’ve found, so no matter what this has to end here.

               Jeongyeon lazily pats the palm of her hand with the flat of the axe blade. “Poor Sana. You were always so cute, so funny. Nobody took you seriously, and now here you are all grim and dark. You remind me of Mina.”

               “What happened to her?” I bark.

               “Nothing. She fell into a hole and died, all alone. Probably cried herself to death. Pity I found her too late, she was already starting to stink.”

               I lunge with my spear. Jeongyeon casually bats it away.

               “You can do better than that, bitch. Remember when you executed Seola? You didn’t hold anything back. Why, if she hadn’t killed Dahyeon, the two of you’d be dead in a ditch somewhere. Neither of you would’ve lasted long.”

               “Shut up!” I yell. She giggles.

               “You should be thanking me, you know. I made you what you are today—”

_A monster?_

               “—a warrior.”

               She still hasn’t attacked me yet. She’s not in any kind of defensive posture. If I’m quick, maybe I can get a hit in where she can’t block with that axe.

               “What happened to Jiu?” she continues. “Did you two hook up?”

               A twinge crosses my face. We fled together after that night. She tried to assuage my guilt.

               Jeongyeon misunderstands my reaction. “Really? And so soon after losing poor Dahyeon? A shame, you made such a great couple.”

               My face screws up in anger. I don’t know how I can feel even more rage, but it seems to be possible.

               “Jiu’s so hot, isn’t she? That kind face, that lush body. You’re such a slut, Sana—”

               I aim for her armpit, hoping a hit there will make her drop the axe in pain. It doesn’t work, she steps back fast enough to avoid most of the damage. She swings wide, horizontally, but she wasn’t holding her weapon correctly. The flat of the blade smacks me on the side of my face, the edge just catching me next to my eyebrow. I go down like a sack of bricks.

               _“Get up,”_ she orders me, and all her veneer of mirth is gone. I stagger to my feet, leaning on my spear for support.

               “Ready?”

               I’m not but she is. She’s holding the axe with both hands at the bottom of the handle. Her face is monstrous, the human mask gone. There’s no way I’m going to be able kill her without her killing me. I’ve only one chance.

               I rush forward, not with my spear tip out but holding my weapon up like a staff, warding off Jeongyeon’s strike. I catch her off guard, blocking her axe before she can muster any energy to cleave open my skull. I don’t have a next step in mind when she headbutts me. Both of us are left off balance, and we fall together in a heap.

               Jeongyeon lets go of the axe with one hand and starts punching the hell out of me. I let go of my spear and grab hold of the axe while trying to kick her. I just manage to break free, only to see her getting to her feet already. She’s an animal now, making animal sounds.

               I take off running with the axe. I turn to see if she has my spear and stumble. Ironically, the spear lands in the ground where I was just going to be. It hits hard enough to break off the tip. I scramble back to my feet in time to see Jeongyeon trip over Ryujin’s body. She lands face first with a thud, giving me a head start.

               I can’t believe my luck.

               I make it to the woods, but I’m not running any farther. This ends now. I toss mine and Ryujin’s bags into some underbrush and hide nearby. Jeongyeon is wise to this, and doesn’t get too close. But she’s only just pulled a knife when I hurl the axe at her. It lands to my great surprise cleanly in her neck.

**Author's Note:**

> Why did I write this? I guess I wanted to try something different. This is the first serious thing I've attempted writing. I kind of wanted a Hunger Games story for grown-ups (since I've been one for quite some time) but didn't want characters from the trilogy or entirely invented ones. (Although, since this is a fanfic, I can't say the characters are really based all that much on the actual people at all.)
> 
> Anyways, I also wanted just enough realism to make it more believable than most of the other stuff I write.


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